Freelance Writing for Nonprofits

One of the pleasures of working for nonprofit clients is knowing that your services are really making a difference for the client and that you are contributing to the greater good on issues that matter to you. But that often means working with small, community-based organizations, and that’s where the pain comes in. How can you as a freelance writer serve small nonprofits, but also serve your family dinner each night? I’ve used several approaches over the years.

1) Use a sliding scale for your rates. If you can make big bucks from a few big clients, nonprofit or otherwise, you can afford to charge the little groups less. I personally group clients into three categories based on the size of their annual budget: under $1 million, $1-5 million, and over $5 million. The organizations with budgets over $5 million get charged as much as I’d charge a corporate client. The others pay less.

2) Limit the number of hours you donate at drastically reduced rates or at no charge. Decide ahead of time, for example at the start of the year, how much of your professional time you can reasonably donate and limit work for those small non-paying or barely paying clients to that amount.

3) Accept comps as payment. If the organization has a membership fee, ask them to make you a lifetime member, or to give you a set number of free memberships that you can then give away to friends, family, or clients as gifts. Same goes for tickets to their events.

4) Get creative with bartering. Create deals with other supporters of the organization who have something you want. For example, maybe a member of the nonprofit’s board owns a construction company. In exchange for you volunteering your communications services, the board member’s company would repair your deck. The bookkeeping can get a little complicated with this kind of bartering, but it can be done. (The board member’s company is basically paying you to perform a service for the nonprofit via barter, so the board member is the donor to the nonprofit, not you, in this case).

5) Trade your time for a testimonial or case study. In exchange for a reduced rate or pro bono project, ask the client to agree to provide a detailed testimonial that you can use in your marketing. It can even take the form of a longer case study that shows how you work with clients over time to improve their print or online publications.

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I had a nice chat yesterday with a woman from Ohio named Pamela who has been working for many years as a nonprofit fundraiser and is thinking about starting a freelance writing business to serve nonprofits. She called to ask my advice and here are a few of the tips I shared.

–Nonprofits usually don’t know what to do with “writers.” They do know what to do with “newsletter writers” and “website content writers.” Be specific about what you can write and you’ll connect much more quickly with the potential client. Think in terms of the product you will deliver as much as the service you will provide.

–Consider offering more than writing. Most nonprofits who need a writer will also need to fill gaps in other communications and marketing skills. I started out offering only writing and editing, but now offer print and online graphic design, publications management (e.g. editorial calendars, working with printers), communications strategy development, coaching/training, and more. I subcontract with a variety of other professionals to get all the work done well. But to the client, I’m a one-stop shop.

–Networking is essential to business development. I tried straight advertising in magazines read by nonprofit managers when I first started out and it was a complete flop. Nearly all of my clients have come from word-of-mouth referrals, networking at nonprofit events, and online networking via my nonprofit communications blog.

–Be flexible in how you structure fees. I offer clients the ability to pay by the project, by the hour, or by the word, depending on the task and how they want to pay. Sometimes clients are limited in how they can pay for your services, either by their own accounting rules or by the way they received the funding that they are using to pay you.

–A website and/or blog is critical. I have landed several new clients simply because of my online presence. I supply samples and client testimonials on my website and those have been enough to please several clients who emailed or called and offered me a contract with no additional marketing required on my part.

What tips do you have for freelance writers who are thinking about entering the nonprofit marketplace?

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